Integrated circuits have become ubiquitous enabling the proliferation of portable electronic devices, such as smart devices, mobile telephones, personal digital assistant, laptop, and the like. In recent years, the demand for portable electronic devices to become smaller while integrating additionally functionality has created a challenge for manufacturers of integrated circuits.
A challenge faced by manufacturer in creating smaller electronic devices is the handling of electrostatic discharge (ESD) that may cause the electronic device to either experience performance degradation or may even cause the integrated circuits of the electronic device to be “fried”, thereby making the electronic device inoperable. To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 shows a simple block diagram of a printed circuit board (PCB) with an integrated circuit arrangement. A PCB 102 may include a plurality of package parts, such as package parts 104 and 106.
Each package part may include a plurality of input/output (I/O) cells, such as I/O cells 108, 110, 112, and 114. Each I/O cell may have a pin extending outward enabling each I/O cell to interact with other electronic components. In an example, I/O cells 108 and 112 may each have a pin extending outward from PCB 102 enabling each of the I/O cell to interact with other electronic parts (e.g., package parts) along a path 148 and 150, respectively. In another example, I/O cells 110 (e.g., as an output buffer) and 114 (e.g., as an input buffer) may each have a pin extended outward enabling I/O cell 110 and I/O cell 114 to interact with one another along a path 152.
As aforementioned, electrostatic discharge can cause serious damage to an integrated circuit. Those skilled in the arts are aware that electrostatic discharge is a flow of current between two or more objects due to different electrical potentials. A common practice in the art is to include an ESD protective module. In an example, to prevent ESD from damaging each of the I/O cell, an ESD protective module (116, 118, 120, and 122) may be attached to each I/O cell.
Those skilled in the arts are aware that electrostatic discharge may be derived from different sources. To handle the different types of electrostatic discharge, the ESD protective module may include different ESD components, such as a human body model (HBM) component, a charged device model (CDM) component, and a machine model (MM) component. In an example, ESD protective module 116 may include a HBM component 124, a CDM component 126, and a MM component 128. Similar components may exist in the other ESD protective modules (118, 120, and 122). Those skilled in the arts are aware that a HBM component may be employed to handle electrostatic discharge that may be generated when a static charge is created by a human handling the integrated circuit. In regard to a CDM component, a CDM component may be utilized to handle electrostatic charge that may be generated when the integrated circuit is within close proximity to another charged device. Meanwhile, a MM component may be employed to handle electrostatic discharge created when the integrated circuit comes into contact with a metal surface.
By coupling to an ESD protective module, an I/O cell may be protected from electrostatic discharge, thereby preventing performance degradation or performance failure to the I/O cell. Although an ESD protective module prevents an integrated circuit from damage due to electrostatic charge, integrated circuit with an ESD protective module may experience performance delay. In other words, before I/O cell 110 may interact with I/O cell 114, ESD protective module 120 may have to perform its function of checking for possible electrostatic discharge, for example. In addition, the configuration of an I/O cell with an ESD protective module may take up considerable space within a package part. Thus, the consumer's demands for increase functionality within a smaller form factor may be limited by the size of the package parts.